Fish breeding?

Question

My husband wants to set up some more tanks in our house to breed fish. He feels there is some money to be made selling good breeds of fish. I am not so sure that's going to work. I think myself if this was that easy, everyone would be doing it, but he is telling me about bloodlines being pure and watching the babies to keep good quality and stuff like that. Is this going to work out good for us to get some more tanks?

Answer 1

Have to agree with the others here - it's not a profitable market unless your clientele has a demand for a specific fish, and it'll have to be top quality. There's not much chance for a home-based operations with tanks to out-compete the Florida farmers who raise tropical fish by the pondfull. Some cichlids, including angelfish, saltwater species, maybe some killifish would be good. Buy breeding stock from other breeders, not pet stores where the sell the castoffs of the good quality fish.

But check out your market first, too. Where/who do you plan to sell to? Do they even buy locally bred fish? Many of the pet chain stores won't. If they do, what species are most in demand? How many can you supply versus how many do they want, and on what frequency will you need to be able to supply the fish? This type of operation requires a huge space and time committment to just break even.

See this link - there's a section with articles about the aquarium businesses that may be helpful to you and your husband: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/

Answer 2

Two way's to llok at this he's going to do it full time which requires alot of out lay at the begining, or its a hobby.

There is a niche market for true blood lines but the real money lies in the expensive fish market and of course they're expensive because they difficult to breed.

Discus as someone has said is an overdone market, theres so many breeders and morphs out there its difficult for the hobbyist to make anything like what he outlays, and it remains just a hobby, having done that for awhile it became to prohibitive either not being able to shift fish on or spending too much to justify keeping them to that extent.

The flip side is the current lack of certain fish like L046 Zebra Pleco, i've tried on a number of occasions to breed these with no real success, and even lost a number of fish in the attempt, now they banned from the import list into the U.K. through lack of a viable population in the wild, these are probably not the only species out there, but this is a good example with current prices for juveniles in the U.K. market commanding £200 thats about $350 a healthy return if you want to try.

Another point to think about is during the early 90's in the U.K. there was a potential Bill/Law been written that would possably stop the import of all wild caught fish, needless to say it wasn't passed however, one enterprising shop duely started to sign up all and any breeder of fish in the nearby area, so he could guarantee his stocks, the failure of the bill to go through meant this guy had to do a runner, he went to Czech republic and is now competeing against all those Far East suppliers.

So it does show you can do it, however to what level you want to go to is up to you, and so you don't po po the whole idea completely I've just ordered a new building 25'x10' for the summer just to house my ever growing managerie of Fish and Reptiles.

Answer 3

That depends. What kind of fish? Exotics or feeders? Tropical or temperate? For certain breeding fish is difficult and a lot of things can go wrong; wrong food, temperature fluctuations, disease (both parasites and microorganisms), wrong water chemistry- you have to monitor all these things constantly. You need to have holding tanks, breeding tanks, and rearing tanks. Good stock from a reputable dealer (who will guarantee that his stock is pure and also disease free) and even then hold new fish is a separate tank for at least a month.
Then what species and breed? Fifty years ago a mature prize Discus sold for $1,500. (US) . I saw one in a big Walmart for $25. last week. (I would not have bought it in any case. Walmart fish have any unfortunate tendency to die and take your other fish with them.) As a teenager I bred Bettas and got $25. for a good looking fish. I could get one today, that is a much superior fish, for $6.
Finally- draw up a good business plan that shows what infrastructure you will need and how much it will cost, how you are going to finance the business, how you will pay back the business loan, and how long it will be before you ee a net profit. Oh, and how you are going to live until you have a profit. It isn't as easy as it sounds and many people have lost homes and credit to unplanned ventures. Hope this helped.
Good luck! michael

Answer 4

It depends of course on what types of fish he plans on breeding, and on what the supply/demand is in your area. My personal opinion is that unless he plans on breeding discus, he won't be able to get any serious money. He could go the route with say Electric Blue Jack Dempseys, or some type of Flowerhorn, but each is going to be difficult in its own way. I've spoken with a few breeders/store owners, and the overwhelming consensus is that breeding fish for money is not a great business. The turnover rate is just too high. Shipping fish can be difficult. Either you, or your customers are going to end up with dead fish at some point and time, and that is always money lost.

If he is looking to maybe sell some fry, and spend a little less the next time he goes to the local fish store by getting some store credit, then I can see a point. But as a main source of income, fishkeeping is not the way to go.

Answer 5

It does require some time and money invested into it. The big difference between making money or not by breeding fish is largely dependent on what fish you are breeding. The more that people want what you are breeding the better the profit. If you find the right market around your area you will do quite well. Look into places like: local fish societies, cichlid associations, and local fish stores to see if there are potential buyers

Some examples that are pretty successful if done right:

African cichlids
Saltwater fish - probably almost anything
American cichlids - Discus in particular

oh, and it is not "easy" necessarily, but if you love what you do, its not too bad :)

Answer 6

Depending on how much time , effort and money your willing to put into it, you could make some money out of breeding fish. You won't make enough to quit your job if you just do it out of house. If anything it could end up paying for the hobby.

To make some money out of breeding you need to find a type of fish that sells fast in your area. You also have to look at what the fish generally sells for. Live bearers breed real easy and are popular fish but they sell for very little money. Discus sell for lots of money but they are harder to keep and may not be as popular in some areas.

Do some research to see what types of fish sell the best in your area and sell for a decent amount of money. I went to Petsmart when I was looking into breeding fish and found that no Petsmart can hold onto their stock of Angelfish for longer than 24 hrs. So for my area it would make sense to look into breeding Angelfish as on option for a kind of fish to breed and sell.

Answer 7

Yes, if your husband breeds good quality fish he will make money at this. I don't recommend quitting your day job though you can suppliment your income by breeding fish. Some people do make a living at this though most do this as a hobby they love and they do make money at this. Make sure he knows the proper latin name of the fish, the original collection site and cull all of the inferior fish and if the percentage is high do not breed those parents again. People will pay for high quality fish though they will never return for sub-par stock.

Answer 8

Depends on the type of fish and how many more tanks you are willing to have it may work out, but for the most part you will rarely get back what you put in if you are strickly a backroom breeder (small operation). Do it because you like it not for the money and that is the only way you wil be happy with it. Make sure to check if your state has regulations regarding sale of fish. (Here in Florida you must perchase an aquaculture lisence in order to sell fish for money. Its 50$ a year and must be applied for...fyi) Good Luck!

Answer 9

I tried doing that...fish are unpreditable and can died very fast....plus it would be hard to keep them pure as sooner or later bloodlines will bred. Tell him not to give up his day job:P goldfish seem easy if keeped in ponds...just remove eggs..they can be worth a bit.

Answer 10

There is no money to be made with most fish breeding operations. It is a good hobby, but I wouldn't quit my day job.